Credit Report Repair

							Common $ense (10)
By Daun Martin, Cooperative Extension Educator
University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service

                                     Credit Report Repair
This week’s column was to address retirement, but having just received a copy of my credit
report that was full of inaccuracies, I decided to discuss how to repair your credit report. You can
order your credit report once a year at no charge.

Your report contains five types of information:
   • Personal information
   • Accounts reported monthly (e.g. store charge)
   • Accounts reported when they are in default (e.g. car loan)
   • Public records (e.g. lawsuits, court judgments and liens arrests, bankruptcy)
   • Inquiries (e.g. from potential creditors or employers)

Check all information carefully. Under personal information my birth date, spelling of my name,
employer, and address were incorrect! In the monthly accounts section, some that had been
closed for 15 years were reported as active. Finally, inquiries from companies unknown to me
were reported as having been made. It reflects badly on your credit report if there are numerous
credit worthiness inquiries in a short period of time. If you are shopping for a car or house loan
start several months in advance and bring a corrected copy of your report. If shopping for a
vehicle—shop around for the best deal before asking anyone to run a credit report. If you go to
five dealers and they each run your information, you might get turned down just for “an
excessive number of inquiries in a short period of time!

The three big Credit Bureaus are:

               Experian 888-397-3742
               Trans Union 800-916-8800
               Equifax 800-685-1111

Each has a web address that I recommend using. You can dispute and correct on-line or use a
form that they will send to you. On-line is faster and if you are looking at securing a home or
auto loan or just cleaning up your report, you will want to correct inaccuracies ASAP.

Finally, you are allowed a 100-word statement. I used mine to record completion of Credit When
Credit is Due and to note a significant period of unemployment and under employment. It is a
sort of “guilty with explanation” and “I’m working to improve my credit” statement.




                The University of Wyoming and the United States Department of Agriculture cooperate.
                    The University of Wyoming is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institute.
                                                                          Wyoming Extension      2

Things will improve when you pay attention to your report by:

   1.   Correcting incorrect information
   2.   Disputing erroneous items
   3.   Paying your bills on time or ahead of time
   4.   Annually revising your 100 word statement

Order and correct your report now! I am confident that you will find more than one inaccuracy.
Inattention could cause you to be turned down for credit you deserve.